


Oedipus Ren

by valeriacatulli



Category: Oedipus Cycle - Sophocles, Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: F/M, Incest, Mistaken Identity, Mythology References, One Shot, Prophecy, References to Ancient Greek Religion & Lore, Self-Mutilation, Suicide
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-14
Updated: 2020-01-14
Packaged: 2021-02-27 09:42:15
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,086
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22255120
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/valeriacatulli/pseuds/valeriacatulli
Summary: What happens when you don't tell a boy about his family? Sometimes, he burns down the Jedi academy. Sometimes, he kills his father and marries his mother.Kylo Ren has "Greek tragedy" written all over him, but for all the Hades-Persephone fics, there doesn't seem to be a serious Oedipus myth retelling out there.Unfortunately for all of us, I have now written one. Please don't hate me.
Relationships: Kylo Ren/Rey, Leia Organa/Ben Solo | Kylo Ren, Leia Organa/Kylo Ren, Rey/Ben Solo | Kylo Ren
Comments: 4
Kudos: 13





	Oedipus Ren

**Author's Note:**

> I tried to keep the narrative mode distant, like "dictionary of ancient myths"-style, because it's just too horrible a story to really inhabit... If you know Sophocles' Oedipus cycle, basically, all the bad things that happen by the end of Oedipus Rex will happen in this fic, but nothing from Antigone or Oedipus at Colonus (so, he doesn't have kids with his mom who then kill each other -- Jacen and Jaina anyone?).

When her beautiful, princely child was born, Queen Leia of Alderaan wished to know his destiny. So her brother Luke Skywalker, priest of the Force, reached out into the unknown.

The answer he received was too much to bear. "Your child is fated to kill his own father and marry his mother," Luke told his sister, concern twisting his features. "What do you wish to do?"

"In the olden days in Corellia, such a child would be abandoned to the wild beasts," mused Leia's consort Han. "I can't bring myself to do that. Can't we do something to avoid the prophecy?"

Leia was too overwhelmed by sorrow to do anything, but after a few months of nightmares, she listened to her brother. "I can take him," Luke assured her. "Raise him as a priest like myself. Ensure he never crosses paths with you or with Han." 

Spent, Leia nodded her silent agreement.

*******************************

Leia and Han never had another child. Their paths diverged, crossing only rarely. Leia threw herself into the work of protecting her kingdom from the evil warlords of the First Order, who were building an empire in neighboring regions. Han traveled the galaxy as a smuggler.

Ben grew up at a temple in lush surroundings. He knew the priest Luke was not his parent, because of the strict celibacy of the priestly order (and the fact that they looked nothing alike, only sharing a certain hereditary impatience). Again and again, he asked Luke about his parents, only to be met with silence and lies. 

When the time came for Ben to take his priestly vows, he ran away. He headed to the next planet to consult an oracle of the Force, hoping to learn something of his parents or his own destiny.

Knowing what was to come, and having failed to keep Ben sequestered away, Luke hid in shame. He never contacted his sister or her husband to tell them of Ben's departure.

********************************

Outside the entrance to the oracle of the Force, Ben encountered an aged, disfigured man dressed in golden priest's robes. 

"Are you the priest of the oracle?" Ben asked. 

"No," Snoke replied. "But after you have consulted it, I think you will come with me."

Ben entered the cave and reached out into the Force. When he got the answer he had searched for for so long, he let out a terrible groan. _Kill his father and marry his mother._ He stumbled out of the building.

"How did you know?" he asked Snoke. 

"I have been watching you for a long time, young Ben," Snoke replied. "Now come. You need never see your family again. At least now you know why they hate you so much."

Dejected and confused, Ben followed the old man. Soon Snoke showed him how to intensify the Force skills he had learned from Luke by fuelling them with his anger over his family's rejection. Snoke gave him a mask, a cape, and a new name--Kylo Ren--and sent him on expeditions with the army of the First Order. 

Ben learned not to feel.

**********************************

Decades of travel hadn't erased Han Solo's worry for his son. One day he decided to drop in on Luke. If the boy killed him accidentally, so be it--but the boy must be a grown man now. 

When Han landed his ship at the temple of the Force, it was abandoned. There was no sign of Luke or his son.

Han did his best to pick up scraps of gossip. He traveled to Takodana, because no one knew as much as Maz Kanata. She told him of a masked, Force wielding warrior who had built a reputation as the scourge of the galaxy. Kylo Ren had appeared out of nowhere seven years ago, around the same time that Luke Skywalker stopped returning her messages.

It wasn't much, but it was possible the man was his son. Han Solo set out to the heart of the First Order: Starkiller Base. He would accost this Kylo Ren and find out if he was his son.

**********************************

When Kylo Ren was thirty he had completed seven years of service with Snoke and the First Order. He felt no more complete or less betrayed than when he first heard the oracle, but at least he was not fulfilling it.

Tearing through the forests of Takodana on a mission to retrieve a map for his master, he instead found a captivating young female adherent of the enemy kingdom of Alderaan. He took her back to Starkiller Base for interrogation. Discovering that she too was blessed by the Force, he ran to Snoke in haste.

"Master, may I make this Rey of Jakku my bride? It will break the oracle, for there is no way a woman ten years my junior can possibly be my mother. And she is skilled in the Force, so we would be wise to have her on our side," he asked breathlessly.

"Bring her to me, and we shall see," Snoke snarled. In an instant, Kylo was enlightened to the true nature of his relationship with his master. If he were to join with Rey, the balance of power would not favor Snoke, and the old snake wished to avoid that. Suddenly, Kylo had a purpose beyond his anger and avoiding his devastating destiny. He rushed back to the interrogation room where he had left the girl.

She was gone.

Crying out in torment, the masked warrior ran from the room. Not caring where he went, he tore through the base and strode across a flimsy bridge, briefly contemplating hurling himself down from it. That would end his torment, but he wasn't strong enough to do it. 

He heard the voice of a strange man calling out behind him. "Ren." He turned, only to see a scruffy middle-aged smuggler in a leather jacket. The man clearly didn't belong on the base, and perhaps even had something to do with Rey's escape, so Kylo did what he did best, flicking his wrist to hurl the man off the bridge and down into the abyss without a backward glance. Mindless killing was his trademark, and so it would stay until he found a way to have the girl.

"I loved you, Ben," Han thought as he plummeted down, down. "I wish I'd told Leia I found you," he thought as he died.

*************************************

The girl became a fascination, an obsession. Kylo found that he could connect with her in the Force, and despite an initial antipathy they soon developed a sort of friendship. Each struggled with feelings of abandonment, though Kylo did not share with her his oracular curse. Instead, he plotted how he could overthrow Snoke.

One day matters came to a head in the best way possible. Rey of Jakku delivered herself to him in an effort to arouse the light she claimed she still saw in him. He brought her immediately to Snoke, which triggered the crisis he had long awaited. Kylo murdered his master and, together with Rey, eliminated the old tyrant's picked guard. When he suggested that she rule the galaxy with him, however, her rejection was swift and violent. 

He woke alone on the floor in the burning throne room. He vowed to consolidate his power. He vowed that she would be his.

*************************************

The siege of Alderaan, in the end, lasted mere weeks. In the face of potential utter destruction, the leadership of the planetary resistance sent messengers to sue for peace. Kylo had only one demand, and the planet would be left alone by the First Order: the resistance fighters should show their commitment to peace by cementing a marriage alliance between the Supreme Leader and Rey of Jakku.

He was not entirely surprised when they agreed. While she had kept their Force connection firmly shut since they overthrew Snoke, he still held out hope that she cherished the relationship they had built as he did.

The wedding was set for the following month.

Meanwhile, on Alderaan, Queen Leia apologized profusely to Rey for the situation they were in and promised to think of every alternative. The young Force wielder should not have to sacrifice herself in a sham, nonconsensual "marriage" to a masked murderer.

*************************************

The fateful day came. Kylo approached the ritual altar on his flagship dressed, as ever, in his black mask and cloak. His enemy bride approached swathed in white lace from head to toe. He approved the symmetry; like his mask, her veil totally obscured her face. The voluminous folds of her white formal gowns obscured the rest of her. She seemed slightly smaller than he remembered, and the Force connection was still firmly closed off, but he took her gloved hand in his and pledged his faith in marriage.

When he came to the wedding chambers after the celebratory meal, his new wife awaited him still dressed in her wedding garments, including the heavy veil. "May I kiss you now?" he asked through his vocoder. 

The veiled figure shook her head. Kylo sighed. It would take longer to mend this relationship than he was willing to wait. If she was going to sit there impassive in a veil, so be it, but they had a marriage to officially consummate. 

"I wish that I could kiss you, my lady Rey, but it appears that is not in the cards. However, for our marriage to be considered legitimate by our respective allies, it must be consummated. Do you understand that? Are you willing?"

She nodded.

"May I...see you?" he asked.

A shake of the head in the negative. This was very frustrating. She wanted to stay swathed in all her finery? Well, so would he. 

He approached his bride, lifted her in his arms, and put her down on the bed. She wasn't shaking in fear, so that was something. He reached up under the voluminous skirts and pulled down her underthings. He made every effort with his gloved hands to ensure she was ready before he unfastened his trousers and pushed into her. She was softer and rounder than he had expected, but that wasn't entirely a bad thing. He came with a cry that was muffled by his mask.

Under the layers of veils, Leia of Alderaan was glad it was over. Though at least the masked murderer was a big man, like Han. She wondered where her real husband was...and she hoped Rey was safe and inspiring the resistance in their next attack.

******************************************

Kylo did not see his new wife the next day. But he was startled when the Force connected them in the evening. Rey looked radiant as always, but was drenched with water.

"Why are you showering with your clothes on?" he asked in confusion. "And why are we connected?"

"Oh!" Rey exclaimed in surprise. "I must have let my guard down. And it's raining. See?"

He didn't see, but he felt a drop of moisture trickle down his face as she disappeared.

It never rained on his flagship. So where was his wife?

Inflamed with anger at her possible escape, he rushed to her quarters and threw open the door.

There she lay on a sofa, still swathed in impossible layers of cloaks and veils. 

"Who are you?" he asked threateningly.

The woman in white sat up with a sigh. She lifted the veils over her head. "I'm Leia Organa, Queen of Alderaan."

"Where is my wife?" Kylo demanded.

"I'm the wife who married you yesterday," Leia admitted. "Rey of Jakku couldn't make it, I'm afraid."

"You...you're old enough to be my mother," Kylo remarked with a sense of foreboding.

"Be that as it may be, my son is a priest of the Force with Luke Skywalker and I don't see what motherhood and age has to do with the strategic conversations your people are going to have to have with my people," Leia responded.

Kylo sat down heavily, removing his helmet and shaking his hair free. "Your son is a priest of the Force with Luke Skywalker? When did you last check in with Luke Skywalker?"

Leia huffed. "Again, why is that relevant?"

"Tell me," Kylo said, putting the compulsion of the Force into his words.

"Eight years since," Leia admitted, looking at an empty space off to the side of the room. She was trying not to think about the fact that the man she had slept with the night before was young enough to be her son. The oracle...but no. It couldn't be.

"Seven years ago, I was studying to be a priest of the Force with Luke Skywalker," Kylo pronounced the words like they were poison. "He didn't have any other students." He let the words sink in before continuing. "I never knew my mother, or my father."

"Luke Skywalker is my brother," Leia responded, resignation settling on her like a suffocating blanket. "I gave him my son to raise because of an oracle. A truly horrible oracle."

"That your son would kill his father and marry his mother," Kylo prompted flatly.

Leia's eyes opened wide as saucers. "How do you--"

"Seven years ago I ran from Luke's temple and sought out the oracle myself," he answered her, eyes shut tightly. "He would never tell me the truth of my mother and father. Maybe it would be better if I'd never known. I certainly didn't escape the curse this way, did I?" He's really asking, really looking for her confirmation.

Leia shook her head sadly. "No, you and I, the curse found us." She shivered. "But at least Han...?" she looked up?

Kylo thought back to the faceless hordes he'd slaughtered over the years. What were the chances they'd contained his father? Would the oracle be that kind, to let him wonder? Or...

"Was my father a scruffy smuggler type in a leather jacket?" he asked, remembering the man who called out to him on the day he lost Rey.

Leia looked stricken, nodding before running from the room in tears, her wretched wedding robes trailing behind her.

Kylo let out an inhuman bellow as he realized his devotion to Snoke and his wasted years with Luke had all been utterly futile. He'd still committed the exact horrible deeds the oracle had predicted. Maybe it would have been harder to become a patricide and a motherfucker if his family had kept him close, he thought miserably.

What was left to him now? How could Rey, with all her light, love him after she learned the unspeakable crimes he had committed? Kylo shook his head in despair.

Unsheathing his lightsaber, he activated it. He contemplated the flickering, unstable glory of the red blade and its two small, lively side vents. He looked closer and closer at one of the flickering side blades as he brought it closer and closer to his eye. 

The screaming agony was only appropriate to his sin. When the first eye was totally cauterized, he turned the blade around and brought it to his other eye, grinding his teeth through the pain.

When the second eye was darkened forever, the pain overwhelmed him. Kylo passed out on the floor.

**********************************

"Wake up," the voice called. A hand shook his shoulder. "Wake up."

The voice was...Dopheld Mitaka's. His loyal lieutenant. 

"I'm bringing in a medical droid to treat you, Supreme Leader," the man told him softly. "They won't be able to restore your sight, but they can help..."

"Enough, Mitaka," Kylo cut him off. "Where is...where is my...bride?"

Without sight, Kylo's attention to sound was heightened. He could clearly sense Mitaka gulping in nervousness, his adam's apple bobbing up and down.

"My lord, she is..." there was a pause. "Your bride is deceased."

Kylo breathed in sharply, wanting to rise but being held back by his pain. "How?" he demanded.

"She...hanged herself," Mitaka murmured.

That was the moment that Kylo regretted burning his eyes out with a lightsaber. He hadn't realized it meant he would never be able to weep again.

**********************************

For days the Supreme Leader struggled with his pain, nearly falling victim to a serious illness. He wished something would put him out of his misery, out of his unending darkness. His anger flared and the First Order lackeys realized that they still had to carry out his every instruction deferentially and immediately, because even without sight he knew when someone misbehaved.

He slept rarely, and fitfully.

"Wake up," a voice called. "Wake up."

Kylo didn't want to wake up, but this voice was much better than Mitaka's. This voice was Rey's.

"Why...why are you here?" he asked. As it dawned on him that he could sense her form in the Force through the connection they had. That he could, for all intents and purposes, _see_ her.

"I'm here for you, Ben," she answered.

"How do you know my name?" he demanded. No one in the galaxy had connected his former identity with the masked Supreme Leader before.

"Luke felt it in the Force when Leia passed," Rey responded. "He came to Alderaan, and told me about the oracle. I told him about Leia's crazy plan to protect me. I'm sorry, Ben. I wish they would have...I wish they would have been honest with you."

"Why aren't you trying to kill me?" he asked.

Rey looked at him in silence for a long time. Minutes, even. Finally she spoke. "The Force tied us together, you and me. And it also assigned you a truly shit destiny. But that destiny is fulfilled. Over and done with. So what do you do next?"

Ben's brow furrowed. He hadn't really thought beyond keeping the First Order running by force of intimidation. "Um, keep the First Order running?"

Rey shook her head. "What do you see when you look at the First Order?"

Ben laughed bitterly. "Nothing."

"What do you see when you look at me?" she prodded.

"I see you. Solid and clear," he gulped.

"Hope, Ben," Rey spoke again. "I look at you and I see hope. And I think, when you see me despite all the odds, you should try to find some hope too."

Ben thinks about it. He'll have to do a lot of thinking about it after this horror show that has been his life so far. But it might be worth it, just thinking about it.

"Can you give it a try, Ben? For the sake of the galaxy? ...For our sake?" she asks, holding out a hand. 

He takes it.


End file.
